Berry season in California is my absolute favorite time. There are folks setting up shop on street corners selling the best fruit you can find all over the country. Last Friday I stopped and bought some strawberries and mangoes below my house. As soon as I saw the pallet of berries I knew I had to make a strawberry shortcake. I wanted to mix it up a bit so I made strawberry cupcakes instead.

Using vanilla I bought in Mexico earlier in the month for the whipped cream was a divine experience. I’ve never tasted vanilla flavors so prominent in home baking. I’m not sure I can go back to store bought vanilla. I was able to find the exact vanilla I used on Amazon.

I doubled this batter and made 12 cupcakes and one small bread pan cake for a friend.

Strawberry Cupcakes Process

Cutting strawberries is no joke. For some reason I keep forgetting I bought a food processor because I hate cutting things. So, I ended up cutting 2 cups of strawberries by hand.

I made the batter while the oven preheated and greased my pan and put cupcake liners in the cupcake tin.

The cook time for the cake was about 10 minutes longer than the cupcakes.